Thanks, Pumpkin!

Many of us probably have fond memories of Halloween that involve sitting out on the porch with our families, shivering against the October chill, as we carved silly faces into pumpkins. Scooping out the stringy insides of the pumpkins with our hands, getting all slimy and messy but having a great time, nonetheless. As a kid, doing this is a blast! But as a mommy who has to clean up after her messy kiddos… not so much. We don’t want to risk our kids hurting themselves on carving tools, or making a mess that we all know we’ll be the ones to clean up. And besides, carved pumpkins start to go bad quickly anyways. So, I know what you’re thinking, “Well, is there an alternative?”

And my answer to that is a huge: YES!

There are a ton of different things you can do with pumpkins! There are so many arts and crafts that are much safer for little hands than the tools used for carving pumpkins. Here are a few of my favorites:

Mummy Pumpkin

What You’ll Need

-Pumpkin

-Gauze/Toilet Paper

-Markers/Non-toxic paint

This one is a super fun and easy little project. First, you’ll take a pumpkin and have your child draw a face on it (It can be spooky or silly! It’s up to them!). When they’re done give them either gauze or thin toilet paper to wrap up the pumpkin to turn it into a spooky mummy.

Paper Mache

What You’ll Need

-Pumpkin

-Tissue Paper/Construction Paper

-Water

-Glue

When making the glue mixture for paper Mache, be sure to use equal parts water and glue. You want it to be thin enough that it covers and soaks through the paper easily, but thick enough that it will stick to the surface you put it on. Take shreds or strips of either tissue paper or construction paper and have your kids dip each strip in the glue mix before applying it to their pumpkin. Let them go crazy with it and create fun patterns or shapes if they want.

Chalkboard Paint

What You’ll Need

-Pumpkin

-Chalkboard Paint

-Chalkboard

This is a fun little idea in that it allows your kiddo to do something different with the pumpkin every day. Paint the pumpkin in a chalk board paint and wait for it to dry. Once dried, give the pumpkin and some chalk to your child and let them draw whatever their hearts desire on its surface. You can wipe the surface clean when they’re done and give it back to them to do something different the next day if they want!

Felt

What You’ll Need

-Pumpkin

-Felt

-Scissors

-Markers

-Glue

-Push Pins

Sit down with your child and have them decide what they want to turn their pumpkin into. Maybe they want to do a cat, a bat, or the typical jack-o-lantern. Once they’ve decided, help them draw out what they want on the felt and cut it out. You can use the glue to layer the pieces of felt, or use the markers to add other shapes and patterns to it. Use the push pins to stick the felt pieces into the pumpkin and presto!

Melted Crayon

What You’ll Need

-Pumpkin

-Crayons

-Hairdryer

One thing I always know I have around the house is crayons. I’m always buying new boxes of crayons for my daughter at the beginning of the school year, leaving the old and broken ones in a drawer in my house. Well, this little project gets rid of those old, extra crayons and creates a fun little masterpiece. Have your child pick out the desired colors and arrange them on top of the pumpkin (be sure to break them into small bits if they aren’t already). Take your hairdryer and help your child heat up the crayons, letting them melt down the sides of the pumpkin to create some pretty neat designs.

Hope you all have fun decorating pumpkins with your kiddos! Be sure to take some pictures and share them with me by tagging @klondikeacademy on instagram!